FAQ

Frequent Asked Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions we get so we will try to answer some of them here.

When can I come out to the farm?

Day visitors are pretty much welcome anytime. If you would just like to just take a look around, you can come anytime. If you are wanting a tour or more specific visiting time, especially if you want time with someone in particular at the farm, it is best if you schedule in advance in case we have a program running that day or are busy. Please do so by calling us at 081.470.1461 before planning your trip out. Since we have many different activities, projects, and groups coming out to the farm and not too many of us living here, I’m sorry to say we are not able to give individual tours unless scheduled in advance. We do have a coffeeshop/shake shop where you can get a drink and maps of the tour for self-guided tours and you are welcome to look around at the buildings and gardens on your own.

Can I come and stay at the farm?

We take overnight visitors to help work and live with us on the farm during specific times. These times differ depending on our training schedule. It is best to contact Sheena at kritsadasabai@gmail.com to inquire about availability.

Visitors help out with whatever work is happening (gardening, weeding, cooking, building, etc), again depending on the season, working together with the community work in the mornings from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon and again from 3-5:00 pm or so. We usually water the gardens during the dry season in this late afternoon time and can always use help with that. We used to be able to take volunteers to stay for room and board for free but we have now had to re-evaluate this with our limited budget and ask that volunteers contribute 350 baht/person/day to help support the community and our work. This includes simple accommodation and homemade communal meals.

Can I bring my group to Pun Pun?

We host groups who come to organize their own workshops or seminars at Pun Pun. Our earthen rounded community center capable of receiving many sizes of groups up to 100 and we have accommodation in various ways including single rooms and dorm style. Our kitchen can provide delicious, fresh, homemade vegetarian food and the Pun Pun Cafe serves fresh coffee, fruit shakes and homemade bread if arranged in advance. We have simple, natural accommodation in the farm for various needs. See our Visiting Us page under groups.

Can I come to live at Pun Pun longterm as a community member?

We have over 15 community members presently and feel this is a good size for us. This being the case, we are not really taking any additional community members at this time. There are some cases where a certain individual/family really fits in with the community that comes to attend a course or we know already, finds a mutually beneficial role for themselves at the farm and does end up joining us. We need to know people well before they come so we recommend attending a course with us beforehand so they can see what it is like here and we can get to know them as well.

How do I get to the farm?

We are located around 50 km north of Chiang Mai city in Mae Taeng province. Our village is called Baan Mae Jo (but this should not be confused with Mae Jo University area as we are not there but in Mae Taeng province). You can find directions both by public transportation and personal transportation on our website under “Visiting Us”. Please print out the directions so you will be able to remember them all. Usually people make it on their own if they have the directions with them and it is quite difficult to guide people by phone the whole way. If you do get lost, of course give us a call.

Can you come build my adobe house?

We do not build homes for people but focus on education teaching others to build for themselves. We do not have the time to build for others with also running the farm and also believe building to be so simple that we are more excited about empowering others to build themselves. We host workshops regularly where you can come to learn to build your own home. Past participants have also included builders hired for a project to come and learn earthen techniques to use to build for someone who does not have the time to do it themselves. We can also refer a few other contractor adobe builders in Thailand who we recommend who do take jobs and have teams to build for you if you are interested. You can call us to ask more depending on where you live.
For specific building questions, refer to the natural building page and information.

What does Pun Pun mean?

The word ‘Pun’ in Thai has two meanings. The way the first word is spelled in Thai means, “a thousand” and the second ‘pun’ means, “varieties”. So ‘Pun Pun’ together means “ A Thousand Varieties”. We named the farm this to represent our quest for biodiversity in species as well as ideas, people, and experimentation.

How is Pun Pun run?

Pun Pun is not a registered NGO. We are a small farm of around 10 acres, run independently by the community of people living at Pun Pun. We make decisions collectively around our shared vision and meet regularly to decide our future direction. We have never received grants besides small ones for a few trainings, and a one year grant for our seed saving efforts.

Do you take donations?

We do take donations which in general go to support our seed saving work for which we spend a lot of time and effort and give away for free. If you are interested in supporting us by donation, please click here to learn more.

Can I get seeds from you?

Yes, we now have more and more seed we are being able to propagate. At present, people can send us a self addressed envelope to our address to request seeds. It depends on the season as to what we have available at any time. We plan to soon start packaging more seeds and have them available to local locations. Our seeds are organic and heirloom. Click here for more information on our seed saving operation.

Is Pun Pun self reliant? Do you produce all of your own food?

That is our aim. We presently still buy some food from the market as we host so many groups throughout the year. At times we have up to 100 people come and eat at the farm so it is difficult to supply that much while we ourselves also eat off of the farm and a large area of our food production goes to seed saving as well. We do grow rice, have fruit trees (more and more fruiting now!), local perennial edibles, vegetable and herb beds, fish ponds, and egg laying chickens. If we were only supplying food for our directly community we would be quite close to being self sufficient.